Do you want more?

Tonight I was pondering on this truth, There is nothing more to have of God, than to have God Himself

Do we have God? do we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within? what more do we want? There is nothing more! Oh but perhaps we speak of experiences, of wanting to know in the same way that Adam & Eve, who already had God, wanted to know more for themselves?

Many people seem to have less interest in having God Himself, they would much rather have His things. Many would rather His power, His wisdom, His provision, or His gifts.. a dozen other things with which God has chosen from time to time to bless people with, than to be satisfied with what He has already given them, which is everything.

Moses had a staff that God gave to him after he complained and said he couldn’t do it. Later God tried to take away the crutch and it cost Moses dearly to cling to the thing of God when God would have him rely on Him alone.

John the Baptist did no miracles, he lived in the wilderness eating locusts and wild honey. He couldn’t heal the sick, or raise the dead. Yet he had God and that was greater than anything that God may have given to him as a gift.

Peter walked on the water yet betrayed the Lord, John expressed no such gift yet was the most beloved of Jesus’ companions and stayed beside him through his trial and crucifixion.

I am not condemning the good gifts that God gives to His people, but I see so many seeking the gifts more than they seek to know the Giver. I see many people who flock to the man who has a supposed gift of some kind and pay no heed to the man who quietly has God Himself.

I ask you, who was more blessed by God, the rich who gave or the poor widow? the publican at the back who could not lift his eyes, or the self righteous Pharisee?

I have been on the mission-field in third world countries and seen people who have God in ways we in the west cannot imagine, yet they are deceived that we have so much more than they do and are not content until we have blessed them or laid hands on them. Professing believers in India touching the hem of a missionaries garments like he is Christ, begging you for prayers for their sick because somehow God hears our prayers more than He hears theirs?

We in the west should be ashamed of the sham-religion we have foisted on the world that they look to our ways with desire and not to God alone.

We silently re-enforce these ways every time a pastor calls the congregation to come forward with their ailments instead of teaching the people how to pray for ‘one another’. We have abhorred the Catholics when they claim the Priest must hear every confession and sanctify every communion, then we turn around exalt a Pastor when only his prayers are good enough for our sick and ask him to baptise every new believer.

Every time you pay money to go and hear a Christian Speaker who claims he will unlock your potential, to give you a new vision and bless you with the power of God, you are committing simony, thinking the Holy Spirit can be bought and sold for money.

One thing that I see demonstrated time and time again in the biblical account of the early church is a fear of pride and outright rejection of any form of praise of men. The apostles consistently pointed all praise to Christ and walked in greatest humility.

A hallmark of the gospel writers was that they refused even to name themselves, instead we find them ridiculing themselves in their own writings. Mark sharply expresses his own failings when he describes himself running naked from the scene at Gethsemane, and John will only speak of himself in the third person.

When at Lystra Barnabas and Paul are called gods by the people they tear their clothes in despair, and when an angel from the Lord receives the praise of men he shows horror at the behaviour, exclaiming that worship is for the Lord alone.

Look to who you are following, the celebrity preacher you love to listen to from lands afar and ask yourself if you see humility or if you see a love of praise. Do you see someone who flees the honour and accolades of man, who desires to lift up everyone else before them and call themselves the least? Because that is the sign of true leadership in the body of Christ.

A humble man will seek to know God alone and to be the servant of all, not seeking money or fame in return. Should God bless such a man with a gift; of teaching or of prophecy or of healing.. you may never hear of it as they follow their King’s example, saying ‘Go and tell no-one what I have done, yet bring your praises to God Almighty and tell others what he has done for you’.

You will find such ones at the margins and not on a global stage, and should God propel them there for some reason of His own you will note they suffer no joy there, only awkwardness at your praises and a desire to point you to their Lord and get out of the spotlight as soon as possible.

So I reiterate, the things of God are a blessing but our attitude toward them is what our Father truly cares about. The way you see a man handle what God has given him will tell you much about what his true motivations are.

In the end you will find that There is nothing more to have of God, than to have God Himself.